Can the shortfall in the first quarter be recovered in the first half?

Consolidated revenue for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027 was ¥43,045 million, down 1.6% year on year. Operating profit was ¥1,180 million, down 49.9%, ordinary profit was ¥1,041 million, down 54.6%, and net profit attributable to owners of the parent was ¥318 million, down 75.6%. While the decline in revenue was limited, the reductions widened at the operating profit level and below, indicating that weaker sales and rising costs surfaced at the same time.

The full-year forecasts are ¥200,000 million in revenue, ¥18,000 million in operating profit, ¥17,500 million in ordinary profit and ¥10,000 million in net profit. The company described first-quarter progress as running below plan. First-quarter revenue represented approximately 21.5% of the full-year forecast, about 3.5 percentage points below the 25.0% of the fiscal year that had elapsed. Operating profit progress was only about 6.6%, meaning that the company would need to generate ¥16,820 million in operating profit over the three quarters from the second through the fourth to maintain its full-year forecast.

Compared with the previous fiscal year, revenue in the fiscal year ended March 2026 was ¥194,532 million and operating profit was ¥16,947 million, while the current full-year forecasts assume revenue growth of 2.8% and operating profit growth of 6.2%. The first-quarter operating margin was 2.7%, well below the previous full-year margin of 8.7%. The first-half results will therefore need to determine whether this can be explained solely by seasonality weighted toward the second half, and whether the declines in fashion customer numbers and bridal ceremonies held are temporary.

At the next results announcement, second-quarter standalone and first-half cumulative revenue and operating profit should be reviewed separately. In addition to whether the full-year plan is maintained, it will be important to see how much revenue and operating profit the company believes will be required over the remaining period at the end of the first half, and whether it revises its forecasts. The first-quarter materials did not present progress rates against the full-year forecasts numerically, so another point to monitor in the first half will be whether the company can explain the gap against plan in monetary terms.